Combination pillow and crash helmet



Nov. 10, 1970 s. YOUNG 3,538,508

COMBINATION PILLOW AND CRASH HELMET Filed Aug. 3, 1968 v v INVENTOR.Samuel Ybzuzg [Ydiifltj Ware fiaw's IITIWRMFYS.

United States Patent 3,538,508 COMBINATION PILLOW AND CRASH HELMETSamuel Young, Fairfield Wool Co. Inc., Taylor St., Danbury, Conn. 06810Filed Aug. 8, 1968, Ser. No. 751,190 Int. Cl. A42b 1/08 U.S. C]. 2-3Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pillow body is enclosed in aticking, and a pair of tie strings are each attached at one end thereofto the ticking at opposite ends of the pillow body. The pillow body isfolded in half along a transverse medial line, and the confronting sideedges of the ticking are sewn together so as to form a pouch open ononly one side. A. pillowcase with a zipper closure surrounds the pouch.The device thus formed is useful as a courtesy pillow for the comfort ofairline passengers, and doubles as a crash helmet which may be put overthe head of the passenger when he is forewarned of an impending crashlanding.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to two ordinarily distinctareas; namely, pillows and crash helmets. More particularly, it concernsa dual-purpose device which serves either as a pillow or as a crashhelmet as the need arises.

THE PRIOR ART It is a conventional practice for common carrier vehiclessuch as buses, trains, and particularly airlines, to provide courtesypillows for the convenience and comfort of those passengers who may wishto use them for sleeping or simply for resting more comfortably enroute. There are also suggestions in the prior art that pillows can bedoubled over and disposed within a zippered outer casing, and it hasalso been suggested that a structure of that kind has utility as a pouchWithin which various articles can be stowed.

Another need which arises in the field of transportation, particularlyairline travel, is means by which passengers can protect themselves frominjury in the event of an accidental collision. It is a conventionalpractice among the airlines, for example, to provide seat belts and tobrief passengers as to how they may *best protect themselves from injuryin the event of a crash landing.

However, it appears that no one has ever suggested that the courtesypillow which the airlines provide for their passengers comfort mightalso be used to contribute to their safety when such a landing becomesimminent.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is a general object of thisinvention to suggest a way in which the conventional courtesy pillowsavailable on airliners may be redesigned so as to serve as a crashhelmet which the passengers can put on at the time that he is warned ofthe possibility of a crash landing. In particular, the inventionprovides a pillow of the type which is folded over to form a receivingpouch, and chinstrap means are also provided at an appropriate place.The pouch can be put over the passengers head to serve as a crashhelmet, and the chinstrap engaged underneath his chin so as to retainthe crash helmet in place despite the violent forces which wouldordinarily be exerted upon the passenger in the event of a crashlanding.

Accordingly, the invention contemplates a dual-purpose device for useboth as a pillow and a crash helmet. The device comprises a resilientbody, a ticking surrounding the resilient body, and a pair of tiestrings, one end of each tie string being attached to the ticking atrespective opposite ends of the resilient body. The other end of eachtie string is free to serve as a chin strap for retention of the crashhelmet on the head of a wearer. The resilient body and its surroundingticking are folded along a medial line to bring the opposite ends intojuxtaposition, and the ticking is stitched along two pairs ofconfronting edges between the medial line and the juxtaposed oppositeends, thus forming a pouch. The pouch is closed along three edges,adjacent the medial line and the two lines of stitching, and is openalong one edge adjacent the juxtaposed opposite ends of the resilient'body. The pouch thus formed is sized and adapted to fit over a humanhead, so that the device serves as a crash helmet when needed. Uponbeing informed of the imminence of a crash landing, the passenger putsthis pouch-like device over his head and ties the free ends of thestrings together under his chin so that the crash helmet remains inposition during the crash landing, despite the violent forces which arelikely to be encountered on impact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of theresilient pillow body surrounded by its ticking, and having a pair oftie string secured thereto. The ticking is shown broken away forpurposes of illustration, to reveal the resilient pillow body therein.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the pillow and ticking of FIG. 1 foldedin half to form an incipient pouch.

FIG. 3 illustrates the fully formed pouch with two lines of stitchingclosing the side edges thereof, and also shows the tie strings disposedwithin the pouch for storage. This figure further illustrates thepillowcase and the manner in which the pouch-like formation is insertedtherein.

FIG. 4 shows the crash helmet of the invention being worn by apassenger, the strings being tied together under his chin to prevent thecrash helmet from being torn off his head.

The same reference characters refer to the same elements throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODINIENT In order tomanufacture a combined pillow and crash helmet device in accordance withthis invention, one starts with an ordinary pillow body 10 of theconventional kind, which may be composed of any conventional pillowstufling, such as feathers, fiber, latex or urethane foam, and the like.This resilient pillow body is conventionally surrounded by a cottonticking 12. The pillow core thus formed is a generally rectangular bodycomprising opposite ends 14 and 16, opposite sides 18 and 20, andopposite faces 22 and 24.

As described so far, the device is nothing more than an ordinary pillowwith its conventional ticking. However, in accordance with thisinvention, a pair of tie strings 30 and 32 are provided. One end of thetie string 30 is sewn to the ticking 12 at the end 14 of the pillow,while one end of the other tie string 32 is sewn to the ticking 12 atthe opposite end 16 of the pillow. The other end of each of the tiestrings 30 and 32 hangs free for subsequent use as a chinstrap for thecrash helmet of this invention. Instead of two separate tieable strings,a single chinstrap of suitable length could be provided, and attached ateither end to the same attachment points as the tie strings illustrated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pillow body and its ticking 12 are folded overalong an imaginary medial line 34 which runs transversely across thepillow body 10 substantially halfway between the opposite ends 14 and16. Then, as seen in FIG. 3, the confronting edges of ticking 12 aresewn together along the confronting portions of side edges 18 and 20, toform a pouch which is closed on three sides. The three closed sides arethe edges 18 and 20 where the ticking 12 is sewn together, and themedial line 34 along which the pillow body 10 and the ticking 12 wereoriginally folded. The edge of the pouch defined by the opposite ends 14and 16 folded into confronting relation, provides the only remainingopen edge of the pouch thus formed.

The pouch opening, designated 40 in FIG. 3, is sized and shaped so as toreceive a human head, thus enabling an airline passenger who expects acrash landing to put the pouch of FIG. 3 entirely over his head forprotective purposes. The pouch opening 40 also forms a convenientreceptacle for storage of the tie straps and 32 when the device is beingused for its alternate purpose as a courtesy pillow. In the view of FIG.3, the free ends of the tie straps are shown inserted into the interioropening of the pouch.

The pillow and crash helmet device thus formed is normally covered by anouter pillowcase formed of a conventional cotton material. Thepillowcase 50 is normally closed along three edges 52, 54, and 56, buthas an opening 58 along the fourth edge which is large enough for thepouch-like pillow body 10 and its ticking 12 to be inserted into theopening 58. This also permits the pillow body to be removed from thepillowcase 50 when necessary, as for example to wash the pillowcase 50.

A conventional zipper type closure 60 is provided for closing theopening 58 after insertion of the pillow device, so that the latter isreliably retained within the pillowcase 50.

When used as a pillow, the combination of the pouch like device of FIG.3 with its surrounding pillowcase 50 provides a comfortable courtesypillow which a passenger can use to facilitate sleeping or morecomfortable resting en route, with all the conventional advantages ofsuch pillows. In particular, the tie straps 30 and 32 are stored withinthe pouch opening 40 so that they do not interfere with the passengerscomfort.

When the passenger is informed of an impending crash landing, however,the device can then be very quickly and readily converted into a crashhelmet which helps prevent head injuries to passengers. The conversionis readily effected by merely unzipping the closure device 60,

which is ideally suited for rapid opening in emergency situations.Preferably, the pouchlike device comprising the pillow body 10 and itsticking 12 is then removed from the opening 58 of the pillowcase 50 andput in place over the passengers head. However, if care is taken toinsert the pouch-like device into the opening 58 of the pillowcase 50 inthe particular position illustrated in FIG. 3, then when it is insertedthe open edge of the pouch (defined by the opposite pillow ends 14 and16) will be substantially congruent with the open edge of the pillowcase50 (the edge which includes the opening 58). As a result, the pouchopening 40 and the pillowcase opening 58 will face in the samedirection, permitting the pouch to be mounted over the passengers headwith out first removing the pillowcase 50. This is a significantadvantage in the event that the passenger must don the crash helmetquickly under emergency conditions.

In FIG. 4, the crash helmet device, with the pillowcase 50 thereover, isseen mounted over the head of a passenger so as to cushion his headagainst violent impact, and help protect him from serious head injuries.Before he puts the crash helmet device of this invention in place overhis head as illustrated in FIG. 4, the passenger 70 would remove the tiestrings 30 and 32 from the pouch opening 40 and allow them to hangfreely as he fits the crash helmet over his head. Then, he would tie thestrings 30 and 32 under is chin to form a retaining strap. It willreadily be appreciated that a crash landing is likely to involve ratherviolent impact, which can easily fling the crash helmet right off thehead of a passenger at the very moment when it is most needed. Thechinstrap 30, 32 is essential to assure the passenger that this will nothappen.

It has been found that if the point of attachment of the chinstrap 30and 32 to the opposite ends 14 and 16 of the pillow device issubstantially midway between the side edges 18 and 20, the chinstrapswill be in just about the right position for tying underneath the chinof a passenger, regardless of individual variations in the physicalproportions of people who may be expected to use this device.

Accordingly, this invention results in a device which has all theconvenience and advantages of the conventional courtesy pillow normallyavailable on commercial aircraft, but in addition is readily and rapidlyconvertible to a much-needed and extremely important crash helmet foruse in the event that a crash landing is impending.

Since the foregoing description and drawings are merely illustrative,the scope of protection of the invention has been more broadly stated inthe following claims, and

these should be liberally interpreted so as to obtain the benefit of allequivalents to which the invention is fairly entitled.

The invention claimed is:

1. A dual purpose device for use as a head-protecting padded crashhelmet and as a head-supporting pillow, comprising:

(a) a substantially rectangular resilient body with parallel elongatedside each having a length S and parallel opposite ends each having alength E greater than one-half S;

(b) a ticking envelope of textile fabric surrounding said resilientbody;

(c) two elongated ribbon-like strips forming chin strap means eachhaving an anchoring end attached to said ticking at a pointsubstantially midway along one of said opposite ends E of said resilientbody;

((1) said resilient body and surrounding ticking being folded along atransverse medial line M substantially perpendicular to a line drawnbetween said anchoring ends of said ribbon-like strips to bring saidopposite ends E into juxtaposition and said ribbon-like strips intoclose proximity;

(e) said ticking being stitched along two juxtaposed segments of itssides S between said medial line M and said juxtaposed opposite ends Ewhereby to form a substantially rectangular pouch closed along threeedges, said medial fold line M and said two adjoining lines ofstitching, and open along one edge between said juxtaposed opposite endsE;

(f) said punch being sized and adapted to fit over a human head to serveas a crash helmet;

(g) and said elongated ribbon-like strips being of sufficient length tosecure the crash helmet-pillow in the protective position on knottingthe closely proximate ribbon-like strips under the chin of the wearer.

2. A device as in claim 1, wherein:

said chinstrap means comprises a pair of tie strings, one end of eachtie string being attached to said ticking and the other end thereofbeing free for tieing to the free end of the other tie string under thechin of the wearer.

3. A device as in claim 1, wherein:

a portion of said chinstrap means, intermediate the points of attachmenttherof to said ticking, is removeably disposed within said pouch.

4. A device as in claim 3, further comprising:

(a) a pillowcase surrounding said crash helmet whereby it serves also asa pillow;

(b) said pillowcase having an opening which is large enough toaccommodate a human head and which extends along the longer edge of saidpillowcase;

(c) and said pillowcase is arranged about said crash helmet with saidpillowcase opening edge substan tially congruent with said pouch openingedge to provide easy external access to the interior pouch cavity ofsaid crash helmet and to said elongated ribbonlike strips;

(d) whereby said crash helmet-pillow with said pillowcase in place canbe quickly donned and secured in the protective position embracing theusers head by,

engageably knotting the elongated ribbon-like strips under the userschin.

5. A device as in claim 4, wherein:

said pillow case opening is large enough to permit said crash helmet tobe inserted into and withdrawn from said pillow case therethrough.

6. A device as in claim 4 further comprising: readily openable closuremeans for said pillow case opening.

7. A method of protecting a human wearer against head injuriescomprising the steps of:

(a) providing a crash helmet-pillow device in the form of a pouch closedon three sides and having an opening on one edge sized to completelyenclose the head of and part of the neck of an adult human;

(b) securing an anchoring end of an elongated ribbonlike stripsubstantially midway along each edge of said opening;

(c) telescopingly lowering said pouch-like crash helmetpillow over saidhuman head;

((1) and engageably knotting said elongated ribbonlike strips under thewearers chin to secure the crash heh'net-pillow in protective headenclosing position.

8. A method as in claim 7, further comprising the steps of:

providing a pillowcase having an opening fitted with readily openableclosure means;

inserting said pouch-like pillow device in said pillowcase;

closing said closure means to enclose said pillow device completely;

and subsequently reopening said closure means to provide access to saidpillow device prior to putting said pouch-like pillow device over saidhuman head.

9. A method as in claim 8 wherein:

said pouch-like pillow device is inserted into said pillowcase in such aposition that said pouch opening and said pillowcase opening face in thesame direction;

whereby to avoid the necessity for removing said pillow device from saidpillowcase before putting said device over said human head.

10 A method as in claim 7, wherein:

said strap means on the pillow device provided comprises a pair of tiestrings attached to said pouch-like pillow device on opposite sides ofsaid pouch opening thereof;

and said additional engaging step comprises the act of tying saidstrings under said chin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,677,743 7/1928 Berton 5-3372,412,769 12/ 1946 Easterbrooks 5339 3,143,748 8/1964 Manning 5-344-3,297,703 12/1966 Worrall 5-339 3,316,567 5/1967 Yagi 5-343 XR FOREIGNPATENTS 350,142 6/ 1931 Great Britain.

JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 2205; 5-337

